Holding Fossil Fuel Companies to Account

May 19, 2023

Planet Philadelphia

New Trends in Environmental Law

Donald Braman

David Arkush

Donald Braman and David Arkush. Donald Braman teaches criminal law and evidence at George Washington University and has a PhD in anthropology in addition to his law degree. David Arkush is the director of Public Citizen’s Climate Program and a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute; he is an expert on the climate crisis, financial regulation, regulatory law and policy, as well as consumer and worker protection. They discuss a new legal theory, “climate homicide.” This theory, about holding big oil criminally liable for killing people, is explored in an upcoming Harvard Environmental Law Review article.

Richard Frank is Professor of Environmental Practice and Director of the U. C. Davis School of Law’s California Environmental Law & Policy Center. Because the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up numerous cases in which state and local governments have sued oil, gas and coal companies, these lawsuits are heading back to state courts for resolution on their merits. The governments are seeking compensation for climate change-related damage. Professor Frank will talk about what happens next, as well as other trends in national environmental law cases.